Cinematographic annual : 1931 (1931)

OPTICAL PRINTING it is frequently possible to so improve defective scenes that it is not necessary to retake them — consequently saving the company considerable amounts of money, to say nothing of time and effort. Although modern first cinematographers and laboratory technicians are seldom at fault, it docs occasionally happen that a certain piece of negative is through some mischance incorrectly exposed or developed. In such cases — particularly in underexposure or underdevelopment — the fault may be cured, or at least greatly improved, by the use of the optical printer in making a richer duplicate negative. In a similar manner, harsh or over-contrasty negatives may be made softer and more pleasing to the eye. Day scenes may sometimes be skillfully blended with special niters and converted into passable night scenes. Objectionable details — such as signs, especially — may be "dodged" so as to appear hazy and indistinct. If a scene does not have sufficient footage for dissolves or double-exposures, a few frames — or even a single frame — may be successively rephotographed to stretch it out to the desired length. For some certain effects a scene mav need to be magnified or reduced: this may be done with great flexibility and ease on the optical printer. During last year's wide-film experiments it was found that scenes made on standard film could be successfullv enlarged to fill the larger frames, or, converselv, that scenes made on wide film could be reduced (either maintaining the wide, low frame proportion or not, as might be desired) to standard film. Af least two firms actually released wide-screen pictures on standard 35mm. film through this process.* In industrial work, 35mm. pictures may be reduced to 16 mm. bv the optical printer. By means of special "zoom" lenses, ordinary long-shots mav be converted into approaching or receding travelling shots, and miniature sets and shots may be imperceptibly merged into full-scale shots. Action may be reversed by making a duplicate negative of the proper degree of sharpness and reversing the positive film before photographing. A good example of the variety of things demanded of the optical pp'ntincr department by even a simple script is given by a recent Richard Dix picture. In addition to supplying Ml of the fades and lapdissolves in the picture, the Special Effects Department was called upon for the following: In a miniature trainwreck seauence, it was necessary to rephotograoh the scene to obtain better temoo: at the beginning of the scene it was necessary to photograph every third frame of film to speed up the action of the train approaching; then every second frame during the section where the train was reaching the foreground: and for the actual crash, normal speed. There were two crashes used, both scenes having be^n photographed so that the train approached the camera head-on. These scenes were magnified to a great extent, and rain photographed against a bb^k velvet background was double-exposed over the whole sequence. The two crashes were connected with a quick lap-dissolve in the middle of the crash, and the last scene used placed the miniature cars in the same relative positions on the screen as the full-size wrecked cars used in the normal scenes of the production, and in which scenes many people were used. iillv the Kid." "The Bai Wbiipers," and "Great Meadow